Everything I want: Will Alfie and Lily's love survive?...

by K. L. Shandwick

  Shawn sat stroking his goatee beard. “Lily?”

  I shook my head. “Nope. You first Shawn.” I definitely didn’t want to sway anyone’s opinion by what I wanted.

  Hell, I wasn’t sure what I wanted. Shawn huffed and blew a slow breath. “Guess I’m with these guys.”

  Lennon turned to face me. “I guess it doesn’t matter what we say, majority rules, right?”

  I smiled. “I’m okay with whatever you guys want. I just want to make music.” That wasn’t strictly true. I was worried. Crakt Soundzz and Cobham Street were with the same label. Chances were, if there was a major gig in the future, we could find ourselves sharing a stage again.

  However, XrAid had a way to go before we’d ever have to face supporting either one of those two bands. Lennon blew his breath out. “I wanted Sly too…just for the record.”

  We all sat quietly while Lennon made the call. Cody was grinning from ear to ear. Shawn threw himself into the pool backwards, and Digs stared intensely at Lennon as he spoke on the phone with the label.

  I knew I’d have to smooth things over with Barney, but deep down he’d be fine that we chose the bigger label. Lennon swiped his phone closed. “Okay guys I need to call Louie now. We have a meeting at two o’clock today, and we need to bring a lawyer with us. Louie told us that James Stein, his lawyer, was ours whenever we needed him.” Lennon rang Louie and grinned widely when he finished his call. “No sweat, Louie is ecstatic for us. James was with him and will meet us at the ‘suits’ office downtown ten minutes before our meeting.”

  We all squashed into Lennon’s car, and he drove down near the label’s office. We had lunch in a little diner, but I was too nervous to eat anything.

  The feelings I had were similar to those I had the first night I ever played with XrAid. I was so choked with nerves that anything I tried to put in my mouth got stuck in my throat.

  I sat sipping my diet Coke, my other hand fiddling nervously with the condiments on the table. Cody swiped the ketchup bottle away from me and set it back in the metal condiment holder. “For fuck’s sake, Lily, you’re making me nervous,” he growled.

  By the time we got into the offices, my brain was in a complete fog. Their space was very trendy, all clean lines and decorated in a minimalist way.

  Huge picture windows brightened the room and the plush white leather sofas and black carpets gave it a modern feel. I couldn’t help myself for thinking that the carpets would be a nightmare to keep free of lint.

  The pretty Hispanic receptionist smiled and poked at a touch screen monitor. She announced our arrival and asked us to take our seats and wait for Keiron Hughes, the CEO of Sly Records.

  I wandered over to where Cody was sitting, glancing up at the array of records hanging on the walls of the office.

  Gold and Platinum records were displayed in glass, chrome, and gold frames with little tags underneath. Each had a small logo of the band as well as their name and the name of the record. As I looked around the room, it was filled with Crakt Soundzz and Cobham Street discs.

  There was one for Crakt Soundzz that was different. “Guys, does anyone know what a Diamond Disc for?”

  Lennon smirked, and shook his head. “Ten fucking million units.” I swallowed audibly. Good grief. I couldn’t even begin to imagine my music being bought or downloaded; never mind that much. What made it all the more impressive was that less than two years ago, they hadn’t even been signed as recording artists.

  At the time when Alfie told me they had been signed, I knew they would make it, but it never occurred to me what it really meant for them. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be sitting in a record label’s office on the cusp of an adventure like that.

  It was a surreal and scary feeling, and I felt like a fraud. There were so many people out there who were much better musicians than I was.

  I knew the guys in XrAid had talent, but with me, I couldn’t help but feel that luck had played a huge part in me being along for the ride. “Send them in please, Maria.” The self-assured voice rang out in the office, and the pretty receptionist flashed her beautiful smile again.

  “Mr. Hughes is ready for you all now. You can go in.” Her head gestured toward the double oak doors with the huge brushed chrome handles.

  Lennon stood and wiped his sweaty hands down the front of his jeans. Glancing over at the other guys, they were all making a nervous gesture of one kind or another. This meant everything to them.

  James was pulling a small laptop out of his briefcase. He flashed a confident grin at us. “Let’s do it, guys.”

  We all shuffled in the door behind James. Keiron and two other ‘suits’ were sitting at his desk. Keiron got out of his seat and came around the large glass and chrome desk to meet us. “Great to see you all. Welcome to Sly Records.”

  He shook all the guys’ hands and hugged me. “Excellent.” His voice sounding excited, and he looked pleased with himself for getting us there.

  We sat through two hours of legal jargon before James was satisfied we had a good deal. I stared at the framed posters on the walls of Keiron’s office as the faces of Crakt Soundzz and Cobham Street smiled down on us.

  The record label wanted to offer us a two million dollar deal. James managed to negotiate it up to three. It was fabulous for a first album. We left in a daze, after being given a PA and an events manager. The first job we had was to do a small tour in shopping malls and other venues to get our name out there, while we were in the studio cutting our first album.

  The plan being we’d cut the album in the studio on weekdays and play in two venues on Saturdays and Sundays for the next two months, starting next week.

  We were able to meet the obligation to Louie that first week, but that was the end of performing at his clubs. I felt a little sad about that. Louie had been great to us and to me in particular. When we went over to see him from the record company’s office, there was nothing but pride for where we were headed.

  He wasn’t concerned that he was losing us as a group, because he knew there would be fresh faces waiting in the wings for their moment on his stage.

  He was relaxed and accepting of our success; his only comment was that we had to keep in touch and not forget our roots. “If you ever need to be told you’re an asshole when everyone else is singing your praises out there in the future, I’m your man.” He smirked.

  I had a feeling that comment was the sign of a true friend. I could easily see how a life on the road, with people catering to our every whim, could affect us. It could make us lose touch with reality to a certain extent.

  Spence stopped by once, but the main man on our project was Keiron. He was a nice guy but a slave driver. For two months solid, we worked our butts off, playing in shopping malls in sixteen states.

  The company jet flew us between venues, and we slept when we could. As we were pretty tight with our material for recording, we were in the studio ten hours a day.

  Chapter 8 – Surreal situation

  We had spent most of our time in the studio putting the album together. We ate, breathed, and napped between. At first, each of us was taking turns, playing our individual instruments, then as a band.

  I felt envious of Shawn more than once as the percussions were the first sound to be laid down for each song. He seemed to have the longest periods of time to himself between and was constantly asleep on the large black leather sofa in the mixing room.

  In just eight weeks, here we were, launching years of work and dedication. The mixing had been mastered, and our producers had done an amazing job.

  The artwork for the cover was ready, and the marketing company was all over it. In the short time we’d been in the hands of Sly, we now had our own logo, website, twitter, facebook, Instagram, and official fan club.

  We were involved in several photo shoots, and the image people took over everything from what we
could wear to what we couldn’t be seen in.

  The label threw us a launch party; the venue they chose held five thousand people and radio stations were running competitions for listeners to win tickets to see us perform at the launch.

  Launching the CD was crazy. I was no longer in charge of what I wore, but I drew the line when she tried to put me in some converse shoes to perform in.

  I insisted on my six inch heels and told her that was not up for negotiation. The rest of the outfit wasn’t a far cry from what I would have chosen for myself anyway.

  The image designer had picked a tight leather skirt and a silk, dark green sleeveless top. A white lacy bra showed through this, and my hair was styled and straightened.

  Sandy, the makeup artist, told me that I was, by far, the easiest client she’d had. She hardly did anything to me except kohl, mascara, and lipstick.

  She did tell me that when I traveled abroad and lost my tan, she’d have to apply a lot more makeup to me. Especially, if I didn’t want to look like a ghost on stage with the bright lights.

  Lennon came in and stood facing the mirror, his arms across his chest. “You all set?” He smiled. Sandy pulled the heavy rubber shoulder guard that was protecting my clothes off and peeled the gown that she’d draped over me away.

  “Ready as she’ll ever be.” She grinned.

  Lennon saw my bra under the top. “Fuck,” he muttered.

  I chuckled. “Jeez, honey, you getting all horny over my bra again?” I teased.

  He shook his head, and I grinned at Sandy. “Private joke.” I smirked.

  As I headed back to the dressing room in front of Lennon he caught up with me and tugged my hand.

  I turned and smiled at him. “Come here.”

  He hugged me. “No matter what happens from this night on, Lily, we’ve all got to be there for one another.”

  I nodded, knowing he was worried that we’d either fuck this opportunity up, or we’d get too big for our boots and change for the worst as people. Fame could do that.

  Hugging him tightly, “No worries from me, Lennon. You can guarantee that I won’t change. My outfits will always get you hard and piss you off at the same time.”

  “Thing is getting into that outfit isn’t as easy as imagining what’s underneath.” He smirked and burst out laughing. “How come you always know the right thing to say to reassure me?” he asked.

  I winked cheekily. “Woman’s intuition, Lennon, I don’t expect you to understand.”

  Cody got to his feet and hugged me when he saw me. “You look scrumptious, honey.”

  I smiled and checked them all out. “Damn, I’m gonna be up there with four hotties tonight. Who’s got my back, covering my mistakes?”

  They all looked at each other. “I figure it’s time to audition for an ugly new member for the band,” Digs quipped and grinned wickedly.

  Spence came in with one of the stagehands. “Ten minutes, guys.” He grinned as he took in our appearances. “You all look great. This is where the magic starts to happen.”

  Shawn muttered, “Umm…that’s my line.” We all burst out laughing, and Spencer walked away grinning and shaking his head. “Get out there and enjoy your moment, we’ll talk after the gig.”

  Tonight was our launch concert, and I was physically shaking with nerves. Spencer opened the dressing room door, and we all traipsed out after him.

  Standing backstage, Cody’s arm snaked around my waist as it had many times before when we were waiting to go out there.

  “You are going to be fantastic, Lily. We’ve done this hundreds of times before. Just imagine you’re in D’mond. The crowd might be bigger, but remember, all those guys are out there because they love you. They don’t want you to fuck up any more than you do. Just enjoy it.”

  A smile spread on my lips. Cody was right. The fans hadn’t bought tickets because they felt sorry for us. Our fans were out there because they believed in us.

  Suddenly the lights in the auditorium went out and the emcee began introductions. I could hear the familiar tick of Shawn’s drumsticks, and my heart was beating wildly in my chest. Cody’s fingers linked with mine and tugged me forward onto the stage.

  With the first chord, we were bathed in bright lights. The intense heat from the spotlights bore down relentlessly on us. Loud riffs from Lennon’s guitar reverberated as he played the familiar intro to our first song.

  Digs bass boomed out from the huge amplifiers on each side of the stage. Strange, a lot of people hate heavy bass, but I’ve always found the familiar vibrations comforting. It spurred me on to forget my nerves.

  Cody smirked and grabbed the mic as I was pulling my guitar strap over my head. He went into his routine of greeting the fans, warming up the crowd, and thanking everyone for coming.

  We ran through the set we knew so well, only this time, we were doing it to make sales as well as to entertain our audience.

  About three songs into the performance, I began to feed on the buzz from the crowd.

  They began to sing along to the words of songs I had actually helped write. For the next hour and a half, we gave our fans everything we had.

  I could tell they were feeling our music, and the thought of that made me smile. Being able to move people with music was what I had aspired to when I set out to study. I never believed in a million years that it would be at this level.

  After the gig ended and we’d done an encore, Keiron and Spence took to the stage. Keiron welcomed us again to the record label and told the fans that we’d be touring in the New Year. This was news to us.

  He encouraged everyone to buy the album, either on CD or digitally, and echoed our sentiments of a few moments ago when we thanked people for their support.

  We were buzzing when we left the stage and headed back to the dressing room. After a quick change we were whisked off to our after-party.

  We were packed into a limo and taken to a downtown hotel. I had no idea what the name of the hotel was. I didn’t pay attention to that part of the information pack we received. I had been so focused on the playing-live- to- the- five- thousand- people part that I didn’t concentrate on anything else.

  The hotel foyer was beautiful, decorated in rich gold leaf painted ceiling cornices, crystal chandeliers, and faint red-colored walls. It felt extremely opulent and reeked of ‘old’ money.

  We were ushered into a room where there were a few hundred people waiting. It all felt like a crazy dream.

  My worried eyes searched the room for someone I recognized. They almost bulged out of my head when I saw Rick Fars standing there. He was the lead singer of Cobham Street, and I couldn’t believe he was actually at our launch party. He was standing there, so confidently, at the front of the crowd of people.

  Well he wasn’t really in front. I think my mind just magnified him. He was someone who would instantly be recognized. I was a fan after all.

  It was hard to understand why he had a wide shit-eating grin on his face and was clapping with everyone else. For us.

  Keiron made another short speech about us, and then we were left to mingle. My head was spinning from all the praise and well wishes from everyone.

  It was at least an hour before I was able to grab a proper drink and take a seat. My feet were killing me in my heels.

  Cody had stuck with me throughout until I sat down but abandoned me to find a big busted blonde who had caught his eye. I was looking over in Shawn’s direction when a warm hand touched my arm.

  Turning into the direction of the touch, I tilted my head and came eye to eye with Rick Fars who was grinning down at me. “At last, you have space to breathe, huh?” He chuckled. “May I?” He gestured at the seat next to me.

  I nodded, a little star struck that this man was even here, let alone making time to talk to me again. When Alfie had supported Cobham Street in London, Rick Fars, the lead s
inger, had come to talk with him and introduced himself to me. That was New Year’s Eve a couple of years ago. I didn’t expect him to remember that we’d met before.

  I had embarrassed myself by wittering on about my studying music in college to a guy that made millions doing just that on a weekly basis. “Well, well, I guess that college education paid off.” He smirked and wagged his finger at me.

  My jaw dropped. “You remember me?”

  He chuckled softly. “You look like that and ask an old horn dog like me if he remembers you? I always remember the women that don’t let me in their panties.” He stared at me, his face utterly serious.

  I sat awkwardly in silence, and he started to belly laugh. “Don’t sweat it, baby, I’m just fucking with you.” He chuckled again and wiped tears of laughter from his eyes. He stared back at me again seriously, “or not.” I smirked, realizing that he was being playful.

  “I saw your band’s gig tonight, Lily. You were fucking great. There’s a lot of talent in that little band, honey. Plus, you look so fucking hot. I’d pay to see you for sure.” He grinned and placed his hand on my shoulder.

  I was having another pinch-me moment sitting here with one of the biggest stars in rock music. And he was talking about paying to see my gig. Crazy.

  We talked about some of the songs we’d written. I was still a little star-struck, but when I got past that, I realized he was in no hurry to move on from talking to me.

  Someone I figured might be his personal assistant came up and whispered in his ear. He shook his head. “No, no more stroking egos, I’m done for the night. Lily and I have things to discuss here.”

  While Rick was talking, Lennon narrowed eyes connected with mine, and he raised an eyebrow. I knew he was asking if I needed to be rescued.

  Shaking my head discreetly I gave him a thumbs-up signal at the side of my leg. His face relaxed, and he nodded once before turning to talk to the group of people near him again.

  Rick was easy to talk to and not at all like I had judged him from the first time we met. He was very knowledgeable and understanding of what was needed to survive in this business. He was giving great advice.